Blizzard Entertainment: Important Security Update

Mike Morhaime just released an important security update: there was unauthorized illegal access into Blizzard Entertainment's internal network this past week. While the information retrieved is not enough for anyone to gain access to Battle.net accounts, as a precaution, they recommend players on North American servers change their passwords.

Update: Blizzard has also posted a detailed FAQ regarding the unauthorized access on August 4th.

Mike Morhaime

Players and Friends,

Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun. This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened.

At this time, we’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses, or real names were compromised. Our investigation is ongoing, but so far nothing suggests that these pieces of information have been accessed.

Some data was illegally accessed, including a list of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China. For players on North American servers (which generally includes players from North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia) the answer to the personal security question, and information relating to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators were also accessed. Based on what we currently know, this information alone is NOT enough for anyone to gain access to Battle.net accounts.

We also know that cryptographically scrambled versions of Battle.net passwords (not actual passwords) for players on North American servers were taken. We use Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP) to protect these passwords, which is designed to make it extremely difficult to extract the actual password, and also means that each password would have to be deciphered individually. As a precaution, however, we recommend that players on North American servers change their password. Please click this link to change your password. Moreover, if you have used the same or similar passwords for other purposes, you may want to consider changing those passwords as well.

In the coming days, we'll be prompting players on North American servers to change their secret questions and answers through an automated process. Additionally, we'll prompt mobile authenticator users to update their authenticator software. As a reminder, phishing emails will ask you for password or login information. Blizzard Entertainment emails will never ask for your password. We deeply regret the inconvenience to all of you and understand you may have questions. Please find additional information here.

We take the security of your personal information very seriously, and we are truly sorry that this has happened.

Sincerely,Mike Morhaime

Blizzard Entertainment

Is there anything that players need to do right now to protect themselves?While there is currently no evidence that any of the password or player data has been misused, we encourage our North American players to change their passwords. Click here to login and change your password.

In the coming days we will implement an automated process for all users to change their secret questions and answers, as a precautionary measure. We'll also prompt mobile authenticator users to update their authenticator software.

Additionally, while Blizzard has no indication that any of your information was shared with any other unauthorized parties or that there has been any unauthorized use of your data, we urge all members of our community to closely monitor all of their online accounts.

Players should also be wary of fraudulent emails (phishing). Unfortunately, because email addresses were exposed, it is entirely possible that this could result in an increased, targeted phishing campaign being sent to our users. Check this page for tips on how to spot and avoid these types of fraudulent emails.

What data was affected?Here's a summary of the data that we know was illegally accessed:

North American-based accounts, including players from Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia Back to top

Information associated with Phone Lock, a security system associated with Taiwan accounts only

Accounts from all global regions outside of China (including Europe and Russia) Back to topEmail addresses

China-based accountsUnaffected

At this time, there’s no evidence that financial information of any kind has been accessed. This includes credit cards, billing addresses, names, or other payment information.

What information related to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators was exposed? What about Phone Lock?With regard to Dial-In Authenticators, hashed (not actual) phone numbers were accessed. This is phone data from the relatively small number of people who opted into the program.

With regard to Mobile Authenticators, information was taken that could potentially compromise the integrity of North American Mobile Authenticators. We have no evidence that other regions were affected. We are working quickly to provide software updates to users.

Additionally we believe the integrity of the physical authenticators remains intact.

The information relating to Phone Lock represents a small number of hashed (not actual) phone numbers from Taiwanese players who opted into this service and had a North American Battle.net account.

Was the physical authenticator compromised?We believe the integrity of the physical authenticators remains intact.

How did this happen?Like all companies doing business online, it is not an uncommon occurrence to experience outside parties trying to illegitimately gain access to the operation’s structure at some level. We are continually upgrading our security technologies, policies, protocols and procedures to protect our customers and our games against the threats that increasingly arise in today’s online world.

When did Blizzard learn of the unauthorized access?The trespass into our internal network was detected by us on August 4, 2012.

Why did Blizzard announce this on August 9?We worked around the clock since we discovered the unauthorized user to determine the nature of the trespass and understand what data was accessed. Our first priority was to re-secure our network, and from there we worked simultaneously on the investigation and on informing our global player base. We wanted to strike a balance between speed and accuracy in our reporting and worked diligently to serve both equally important needs.

What action has Blizzard taken?Upon learning of the unauthorized access, we worked quickly to re-secure our network. Afterward, we immediately notified law enforcement as well as security experts and launched an ongoing investigation to determine what had occurred. We also took steps to notify players, which happened in a matter of days from the time we discovered the illegal access.

Was any personal or financial information accessed?At this time, there is no evidence that financial information was affected or accessed. There's also no evidence that personal information such as real names or billing addresses were accessed.

What can you tell us about the scrambled passwords that were accessed?Cryptographically scrambled versions of passwords for North American players were accessed, protected by Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol. This information alone doesn't give unauthorized users the actual passwords -- each password would need to be deciphered individually. The added layer of protection from SRP makes that process computationally very difficult and expensive.

Why not immediately invalidate the secret questions and answers that were compromised?This was a difficult decision to make but in the end we believe that keeping the secret questions and answers in place still provides a layer of security against unauthorized users who don't have access to the compromised data. In the meantime, we are working quickly to create a mechanism for players to change the secret question and answer on their account. Our customer service staff will also know to use additional measures to verify player identities and not rely solely on secret question and answer.

Why not immediately revoke the mobile authenticators?Similar to the decision surrounding secret question and answer, we still believe that keeping mobile authenticators active provides a layer of security against unauthorized users who don't have access to the compromised data. In fact, the mobile authenticator information by itself won't grant access to a Battle.net account -- that still requires the actual password as well. We are working quickly to deploy new mobile authenticator software and will notify players to update as soon as it's available.

Are you taking additional security measures as a result of this occurrence?We are continually upgrading our security technologies, policies, protocols and procedures to help protect our customers and our games, and will continue to monitor the situation closely. Back to top

Teams have also been working around the clock in an ongoing investigation with law enforcement and security experts, to gain a more detailed understanding of what happened. As we conclude the investigation there will be lessons learned that can help strengthen our security going forward.

Comments

Comment by lankybrit

Comment by Rosiemoon

Seems that not even Blizzard is inmune to the myriad of hacks that are taking place these days. Sad.

Comment by jagojax

on 2012/08/09 17:48:03

what about people from the UK who play on US servers?

Comment by perculia

on 2012/08/09 17:49:08

If you play on a US server, you should change it.

Comment by TheReal

on 2012/08/09 17:53:30

Was just about to post a link but I see Wowhead beat me by a few minutes. GJ

Comment by Rystrave

on 2012/08/09 17:59:53

What a buncha jerks.

Comment by EdantheDwarf

on 2012/08/09 18:05:06

Done and it is even one that will help me remember something else

Comment by Interest

on 2012/08/09 18:16:01

Preparing to change passwords...

Comment by jumbodog

on 2012/08/09 18:20:04

They are updating the mobile authenticator software but what about those of us who are using a mobile authenticator that Blizzard no longer supports and which was grandfathered in? I have no desire to buy a new phone just to upgrade my authenticator software.

Comment by DartVader

on 2012/08/09 20:44:43

Seems that not even Blizzard is inmune to the myriad of hacks that are taking place these days. Sad.

Of course they're not immune. The fact is, there is no such thing as a perfect security system. Any and every type of security can be bypassed eventually by someone with enough skill, determination, time, and ingenuity. That's why companies are constantly updating security protocols. The fact is, I think they've taken the right steps and in the right order. Remember, the company isn't actually required to tell us if there has been a security breach of any kind- the fact that they did, and did it this soon after the breach, tells me they are taking this very seriously- and the first step is to close the breach, which they did. They also took the time to make sure they could tell us what was compromised. With all the information they have to go through to do it, 5 days is actually quite a short time to do it in. I say kudos to Blizzard for doing a good job containing this crisis.

Comment by Voltt

on 2012/08/09 21:48:00

The fact is, there is no such thing as a perfect security system. Any and every type of security can be bypassed eventually by someone with enough skill, determination, time, and ingenuity.

This reminds me of Lifelock, that SSN# protection company. People have tried to knock them, saying, "oh the CEO purposely gave out his SSN# to see how well their protection is and it was hacked." What people don't realize is that their company isn't to stop the hackers, which is impossible, but to remedy this situation if your SSN# is compromised.

I don't know, this just sort of reminded me of it. Blizzard is certainly not immune, no one is. What they do to remedy the situation is the main idea.

Comment by jumbodog

on 2012/08/09 22:40:49

The fact is, there is no such thing as a perfect security system. Any and every type of security can be bypassed eventually by someone with enough skill, determination, time, and ingenuity.

It's more than that. There is no such thing as a perfect security system because every security system is a series of trade-offs based upon an evaluation of threats. In the real world P!=NP. This is why the debate over the keyspace of passwords is nonsensical. A large body of research has shown that when you make users create long passwords or passphrases all that happens is that they write them down. If you prevent them from writing it down they forget it. You've solved the brute force problem but created a whole set of new vulnerabilities that didn't exist before. Now you have to worry about the physical security of the piece of paper the password is written down on. Now you have to address the transaction flow of information as users seek to reset their forgotten password.

I'm not a fan of long passwords chiefly because people laser in on them and disregard a systemic approach to security. One of the reasons I've always respected (and still do) Blizzard's security operation is because they don't go anal about silly &*!@ like password length.

Comment by Interest

on 2012/08/09 23:15:49

Actually...on second thought. I'm just gonna change the password on one account...the one I really care about (the other one only has a Starter's Edition anyways). =)

Comment by Rankkor

on 2012/08/09 23:53:09

Seems that not even Blizzard is inmune to the myriad of hacks that are taking place these days. Sad.

If behemoths like the FBI can have THEIR website attacked, then its not so surprising that gaming companies like blizzard can be attacked too.

Thanks for the update, I'll change my password.

Comment by TheReal

on 2012/08/10 00:05:31

The fact is, there is no such thing as a perfect security system. Any and every type of security can be bypassed eventually by someone with enough skill, determination, time, and ingenuity.

It's more than that. There is no such thing as a perfect security system because every security system is a series of trade-offs based upon an evaluation of threats. In the real world P!=NP. This is why the debate over the keyspace of passwords is nonsensical. A large body of research has shown that when you make users create long passwords or passphrases all that happens is that they write them down. If you prevent them from writing it down they forget it. You've solved the brute force problem but created a whole set of new vulnerabilities that didn't exist before. Now you have to worry about the physical security of the piece of paper the password is written down on. Now you have to address the transaction flow of information as users seek to reset their forgotten password.

I'm not a fan of long passwords chiefly because people laser in on them and disregard a systemic approach to security. One of the reasons I've always respected (and still do) Blizzard's security operation is because they don't go anal about silly &*!@ like password length.

I'm sure there are thousands of methods to use that will help people create strong, unique passwords. The trick for an IT department is to pick one and teach it.

Comment by Hakunamatata

on 2012/08/10 01:50:50

RIP people who don't change the passwords within a day or two. The lazy people at Blizzard don't even use case-sensitive passwords, which means that even hashes will be deciphered really, really soon.

Comment by fistrake

on 2012/08/10 02:11:49

North American-based accounts, including players from Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia should def. change password.

Comment by Yswar

on 2012/08/10 02:45:07

I was wondering when such a thing will happen.

Comment by kintotech

on 2012/08/10 11:08:12

Changed my password and spreadin' the signal.

Comment by TheReal

on 2012/08/10 13:11:56

Please, someone else with a little technical knowledge:

Shouldn't users be changing their battle.net email addresses as their primary concern? The security bulletin shows that each password is encrypted with its own unique cipher, therefore cracking stolen passwords is likely to take far longer than any of the thieves probably care to spend trying. However, each encrypted password was attached to a battle.net email address that was stolen as plain text. Using the battle.net email address in combination with the answer to the secret question (which was also stolen in plain text, as I understand it), it's probably a cinch to remove authenticators and steal accounts.

It makes sense to me that users should change their battle.net email addresses and use the new email address for ONLY their battle.net log-in. I mean hey, because my battle.net email was stolen, I probably won't do myself any harm by revealing that it was thehealadin at gmail.com. Good luck to anyone who thinks they can hijack my account now.